Once a Hero, Always a Hero
by foureyedbabe
Summary: Lily has always dreamed of becoming a knight. So she returns to Skyrim. But all her dreams are ruined. She finds out she's the Dragonborn, and joins the Companions. Will a certain older twin catch her eye? But both of them are hiding something. Vilkas X Dragonborn
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Sorry if I sped this prologue up a bit at the end. I was getting tired of typing that story. I wanted to hurry up and get to the juicy bits. *Evil smile* Anyway, this story has no sex themes. I mean, they _might_ "do it" ,*Evil smile*, but it's rated T mostly for violence and language. So, no mean comments/reviews! First VXD fanfic ever! Be nice for once! lol Enjoy!**

_Once a Hero, Always a Hero_

_A Skyrim fanfic by foureyedbabe._

_Vilkas/Dragonborn_

_Prologue:_

"_Once upon a time, there lived a young brave knight named Henry." _

"_Make the knight a girl daddy!" _

"_Okay, let's start over then. Once upon a time, there lived a brave young knight named Lilly. And she came from a faraway place called Skyrim. But when she was just a little baby in a bundle of blankets, her mommy and daddy had to take her to a place called Cyrodiil. And they lived in a settlement called Skingrad._

" _But when Lilly was only barely a year old, her mommy died from a sickness. Her daddy was very sad, but took very good care of their daughter. Her daddy worked in an alchemists shop not far from their home. Sometimes, even little Lilly would go along and help. When Lilly wasn't helping her father, she would help some of the townsfolk with gardening. And helping around their local chapel. _

"_Everyone loved that little Lilly, and appreciated her hard work. And everyone saw she was becoming a very good and hard worker. Her father was very proud, and he knew her mother would be too. _

"_Lilly knew her father and everyone in their town was counting on her to follow in her father's footsteps, of even become a great farmer one day, but Lilly had other plans. _

"_She wanted to become a Knight. Ever since she could remember, she wanted to become a Knight. She didn't want to work in her father's footsteps, she wanted to follow in the footsteps of the greatest hero's ever, like the Hero of Kvatch, or the Knights of the Nine, or The Blades. She wanted fame and glory, and most importantly, she wanted to protect the people of Cyrodiil. _

"_When she was older and talked to her father about it, he said 'As soon as you have enough money for good armor and sword, and you kill your first beast and lay it at my feet, you can become a Knight.' _

"_That was enough to make Lilly work hard for what she wanted. To make her father proud. So she would work from a little before dawn, till a little after dusk. One day, Lilly was told to fetch berries' from the forest. She walked through the town gates with her father's old dagger in the back of her belt, and made her way to look for a berry bush._

"_While she was picking them, she heard a rustling noise, and as she turned, a wolf had emerged, and it was hungry. Lilly slowly put her berry basket down and slowly guided her hand to her father's dagger. The wolf watched her closely with yellow eyes. As soon as she gripped the hilt of the dagger, the wolf charged her. She quickly leapt out of the way and threw her dagger at the wolf. It landed in it's head, and the wolf gave a last whimper, slumped to the ground, and moved no more. Lilly gave herself time to catch her breath before returning home, not only with the berries', but the wolf slung over her shoulder._

"_When Lilly dropped that wolf down at her father's feet, pride swelling in her heart, her father just laughed. He laughed so much tears began rolling down her cheeks and onto in shirt. After he had calmed down, he got up, walked over to his beloved daughter and hugged her tightly. _

"_After Lilly's father gave her some money to buy her armor and sword, Lilly had set off to The Imperial City to find work. She found many adventures along the way, and when she finally arrived in The Imperial City, there awaited many more adventures than before. Lilly went to many different city's and helped many people. She risked her life for people numerous times, and after months of helping anf training, she was dammed a Knight of Cyrodiil. She lived everywhere for a long time, and when she finally died, her sprit lived on with the Gods. The end."_

"_Ohh! That was really great daddy!" _

_A man held his little daughter in his arms on a small bed in a small room lit with only one candle. "Well, I'm glad you liked it. I'd assumed you'd be tired of it by now, considering I've told it to you since you were just a wee little thing." Said the man. "I'd never get tired of that story! It's my favorite story EVER!" Cried the child, standing on her knees on her bed and throwing her arms up, smiling an almost toothless smile. Her father snuck his arms around her and pulled her to him. She giggled and laughed as he tickled her, and almost jumped five feet away as she turned and started to tickle him. _

_Soon they calmed down from their laughter and hugged each other faintly smiling and breathing heavily. _

"_Daddy?" The small child asked. "Yes love?" He answered, eyes closed. "I want to be a knight. Like Lilly in the story. Can I?" She asked as she gazed into her father's now open bright blue eyes. _

_He smiled. "If you set your heart to it, I believe you can do it. And as long as your careful." He said, closing his eyes once more. "Cool." She said, closing her eyes and smiling. "G'night daddy." She said faintly falling asleep. _

"_Goodnight my lovely little flower Lilly." He said, and both dropped into a peaceful sleep…_


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 1_

Thirteen years passed since that night. I won't go into details of what happened after that night until later. Maybe.  
Well, now I'm eighteen years old, and ready for adventure. I decided to go to Skyrim when I couldn't find work in Cyrodiil. At least, not the kind I wanted. So I gathered up some clothes, weapons, (_Which isn't much,_) and all the gold I had left in the world. I didn't have much, but I hoped it would be enough to get across the border into Skyrim, and traveled there. So here's where my _real _story begins.

I was walking by some guards in armor with blue on them who seemed to be escorting some dude on horseback wearing brown furs and had long-ish blonde locks. _  
Guess I'm not the only blonde here then._ I thought.

They were all walking slowly, and carefully. I looked to my right and saw a horse with no man on his back. But I saw a man with dark hair walking closely by it. _Maybe he's the stable boy_. I thought. _Sure looks like one._ I decided it wasn't important and walked a little faster towards the borderline. _Almost there.._ I thought.  
The guard was just standing there, waiting. I thought I heard a rustling to my left but figured it was a chipmunk or a squirrel, ignored it and walked on. _Almost there. _Once again I thought I heard rustling in the woods, but continued to ignore and walked on. _Better get my money out._ I thought. I was reaching into my pocket when I heard men yelling and horses footsteps. I was about to turn around when I something collided into my head and everything went black.

"_And who do you think you are, telling me what I can and can't steal. It's a free country!"  
"Not that free you idiot! Especially since the Empire took over…" _

_Duh fuk? _ I was….Moving. Not too fast or too slow. _And my head…Ohhh my head… _I tried to touch my head, it felt like I was bleeding, but I noticed my hands were bound. _At least I'm lying into something soft and….Furry? _I opened my eyes a little, and groaned a little because the light was bright.  
"Hey, I think that girl is waking up." Someone said. A man.  
I opened my eyes a little wider and let them adjust then raised my head a little.  
"Good to see you're not dead. Although it would probably be better if you were already." Male. Nordic accent. I looked to my left and saw a blonde Nordic man looking at me, smiling faintly. I blinked.  
"What…Wait, where am I?" I asked. I looked to my right and came in contact with brown fur. I looked up.  
Another Nordic man was looking down at me. I raised myself up a little more because I was still kinda leaning on him. He didn't say anything for he was also bound and gagged. Actually, now that I had straightened up, and looked around a bit, everyone was bound. Both the Nordic men were bound, but only one was gagged, and another man who was across to the right from me was bound.  
"Hey, you're that dude that I saw by the unoccupied horse." I looked to the man beside me. "And you're the dude I saw riding a horse. What's going on? And why are we in these wagons? Where are they taking us?" I asked.  
"To the end of the line." The blonde Nordic man who, (now that I looked closer at,) was wearing armor with blue like all the other men, and was sitting across from me to the left.  
"End of the line? What'd mean?" I asked. "He means we're going to _DIE!_" Cried the dark haired man. At those words, my heart sank, and I shivered. _Death? No way. I couldn't die. Not yet, I still had to become a knight, and find…. _  
"Ugh! You make it sound soo dramatic!" Said the Nordic man to my left in frustration. "Look young one," (he looked me in the eye and smiled a little reassuringly.) "don't listen to that idiot. He's just nervous." "But are we really going to our death?" I asked. The Nord hesitated, then nodded slowly. I gave out an exasperated sigh and looked ahead of us. "I'm sure it won't be bad!"  
I threw him a disbelieving look, in return he said, "I'm sure it'll be quick and painless. You'll see, you won't feel a thing." He flashed a fake smile in my direction.  
The dark haired man snorted. "Yeah right. You just keep telling yourself that blondie." He said. A muffled growl came from the man beside me.  
"Oh, what's that? You wanna say something to me blondie? What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" He taunted. "_WATCH YOUR MOUTH YOU CREETAIN!_" The Nord in blue armor yelled. "Do you have any idea who you're talking too? That's Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak, High King of Skyrim!" He said loudly.  
The dark haired man looked taken aback for a moment, but upon realizing who the gagged man was, looked angry. "So that's why we're riding to our death!" He sneered. "It's because of you! You and your army of dirt bag Stormcloaks!" He said angrily. He was about to say more when the guard in front driving the wagon we were in said, clearly vexed, "Shut up back there!" We all became silent.

We had now been riding into a village and were passing houses. The blue armored Nord said a few more things, but I wasn't listening. We passed a house where a father was telling his son to go inside the house. Finally we stopped. I noticed there were many other wagons with, apparently, Stormcloak soldiers were getting off the wagons and standing in a line. Men and women in red armor with clipboards were calling people's names. I was the last to get the wagon. I almost fell off trying to get off the wagon, but the Jarl Ulfric guy walked a little towards me and motioned for me to put my bound hands on his shoulder. I did so to keep myself steady as I climbed down. I nodded my thanks, but he just blinked then walked a little in front of me.  
_Um, okay?_ I thought. The Nord in blue Stormcloak armor was just climbing down when a man about his height in red armor looked at the Jarl and called his name. "It has been an honor Jarl Ulfric." Murmured the Stormcloak solider as he walked away to stand in a line.

"Ralof of Riverwood." Said the red armored soldier, if somewhat tensely.  
They glared at each other as the man Ralof in the Stormcloak armor walked off to join some other soldiers.  
"Lokir of Rorikstead." Said the red armored soldier. "_NO! I WON'T DO IT! YOU'VE MADE A MISTAKE!_" He yelled. He started to run, and I heard a female soldier cry, "_HALT!_" But he didn't stop. "_ARCHER'S! TAKE AIM!_" She yelled. "_YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME!_" The archers aimed, then released their arrows. The man named Lokir hit the ground dead.  
"Anyone else feel like running?" Said the female soldier loudly turning back the other soldier in red armor.  
The female was wearing silver and red armor, while all the other soldiers were wearing brown leather and red armor. "Continue Hadvar." She said. The soldier in front of me turned back to face me. He looked at me, then the check list. "Captain, this Nordic girl isn't on this list. What should we do?" He asked looking at her. "Kill'er with the rest of them. It won't matter." She said walking away. I may have been nervous, and scared, but when that Captain said that, my blood boiled.

The man named Hadvar put his list down walked towards me a little and looked down at me sadly. "I'm sorry young one. I can't do anything." He said softly. I tried to smile, but I couldn't. "It's alright. Should I give you my name anyway? Make it official?" I asked.  
He smiled warmly down at me. "You don't have too. Not if you don't want too." He said. I shook my head, "Naw I want too. It'll make me feel remembered. Ya know?" I said fighting the impulse to cry, or run. He smiled a little and looked down at his list sadly. "Alright, if you say so. What's your name, and where are you from?" He asked. "My name is Lilly, I'm from…From Skyrim." I said. He scribbled it down, and nodded slowly. "At least you'll die in your homeland." He said. I barely nodded. "Come on, let's not waste any more time Lilly." Said Hadvar. He took me by the wrist, and lead me to where the others were standing, waiting…

A man in about the same armor as the female Captain was talking to the Jarl Ulfric. I wasn't listening to him though. I had noticed a rock, with a box on the other side of it, and the executioner. He did _not_ look friendly _at_ _all_. The man talking to the Jarl started walking towards the female Captain.

"Alright, let's get this done and over with. Captain, your orders." He said. "Yes General Tullias sir." Said the female Captain. She called one of the Stormcloak soldiers and had him get on his knees. "My ancestors are smiling down upon me. Can you Imperial slugs say the same?" He said.  
The female Captain kicked him down on the rock, the executioner raised a _gigantic_ ax, and brought it down the soldier's neck. I watched as his head was chopped off and fell into the box. Blood splattered from the nub in his neck.  
The female Captain pushed him aside like dirt. I felt bad for him. Even though I had no clue who the Stormcloaks were, or their Jarl, or who the red armored soldiers were, or _why _I was about to have my head cut off like a chicken, I still felt bad. Not just for the first victim, or them next ones, but the other soldiers in red armor.  
"Alright, next prisoner!" Yelled the female Captain. Suddenly, we all heard a loud _roaaar _in the distant mountains. "What was that?" Said Hadvar. "It doesn't matter. I said, _next prisoner_." The female Captain said, clearly annoyed but I detected a hint of tenseness in her voice. Whatever that was, it had spooked her a little.  
"You! The Nord in the rags!" Yelled the female Captain. My blood went ice cold. My heart started to race. I looked at Hadvar. He inched a little towards me. "Come one Lilly, nice and easy now. It won't be so bad. It'll be quick and painless." He said softly.  
My hands started to shake. I looked behind him, archers and townsfolk were standing near my path to freedom.  
_I could run_. I thought. I looked back at Hadvar. His eyes were soft, warm, and friendly. Water burned my eyes. My head ached. My hands shook. _No. I'll face my death like a brave knight facing a dragon_.

I took a deep breath, held my head up a little higher, and walked to the rock. _I had so much I wanted to do_._ I wanted to see the world of Skyrim_. But now that was all changing. _Maybe I'll see mom again._ I thought. I knelt down. I sniffed. _Ew. I guess my last smell will be the smell of blood, sweat and stinky executioner_. I thought. I laid my head down on the rock facing the forest and mountains. _Goodbye world. It was nice seeing some of you. And if there are any Gods, please don't let that Hadvar soldier beat himself up over my death._ I closed my eyes. I heard the scrape of the giant ax being lifted up… _I love you daddy…_

"_ROOOAAAAAARRR!_" The _whole ground _shook. My eyes flew open. Directly where I was looking on a house there sat the most surprising surprise in my entire life. A giant dragon. 

**Author's**** Note: Sorry about the chapter titles up there. I needed to keep track of my documents. lol Anyway, I hope you're enjoying my story so far. I'm working on chapter 2 right now. I'm not quite finished, but I'll upload as soon as I'm done. :) P.S. This is my first fanfic. So no mean comments/reveiws please. But I honestly hope you guys like this story! Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3 (Actually it's Chapter 2)

_Chapter 2_

Everybody was in a panic. The soldiers were shooting arrows at the dragon; and villagers were running around looking for a place to hide. The dragon was breathing fire on the red armored soldiers who were shooting arrows at them.  
"_I am Alduin, the World-Eater. I have been gone for thousands of years. Now I have returned. AND I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!_"  
Holy shit. The dragon was _talking_. Did anyone else notice that, or was it just me?  
"You there! Nord girl!"  
_Ralof_? Someone had lifted me up bridal style and was carrying me to a tower. I was completely still. No, tensed. All throughout my body. I was a boulder. I couldn't believe I have just seen a dragon that close up. And was still alive. For now at least. 

"Ralof! Hurry in here with that girl!" A man's voice. Nordic. But stronger. Maybe a little gruffer. We entered the tower and I heard a door close.  
I had my eyes open, but didn't pay attention to my surroundings. "Jarl Ulfric! Are you alright?" That was Ralof. That was also him holding me, I realized. "Yes. For now at least." _Likewise._ Ralof put me down. "You okay there Nordic girl?" He asked me. I looked at him. I frowned. I almost fell backwards, but Ralof was kind enough to catch me and hold me up.  
"She's in shock." Said the Jarl Ulfric. He was by the door. I swallowed. I took a deep breath, blinked a few times and then brushed Ralof's hands off me nodding slowly. "Are you sure you can stand Nord?" He asked. I nodded again.  
My head was pounding and ached so bad.  
"My name is Lilly." I said. Ralof nodded. "Ok Lilly. I'm Ralof," (He gestured to himself ) "That's Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak." He pointed him out by the door. The Jarl wasn't paying attention, he was looking up the tower. "We have to get out of here!" He said loudly. _Ouch. Really, do you have to talk that loudly man?_ I thought.  
"You're right!" Said Ralof. I realized Ralof and the Jarl weren't even bound anymore. And the Jarl was obviously not gagged anymore. I seemed to be the only one bound. 

"How do we get out? We can't risk going out there again. We need cover." I said. Ralof nodded in agreement. The Jarl looked at me. "You're right. Let's see what's up the tower. We need to make our way out of this Gods-forsaken town." The Jarl said in a deep voice.  
Just then, we heard the dragon roar and fire was blown onto the door near Ulfric and Ralof. They both jumped out of the way, and I tripped over a bucket and back into the staircase wall. Luckily I hadn't fallen down to the ground.  
"Is everyone alright?" The Jarl asked when the fire breathing stopped. "Yes." Said Ralof getting his balance back. "I'm ok." I said. _But my head still hurts like a motherfucker._  
"Alright, we need to move, _NOW!_" Yelled Jarl Ulfric.  
Ralof grabbed one of my hands and pulled me with him up the tower staircase. Ulfric was right behind me.  
At the top of the staircase three Stormcloak soldiers were looking for a way out. One of them was coming back down when suddenly we heard the dragon roar, and the tower wall which we were about to cross near the top, exploded and the dragon breathed fire through it. Ralof threw himself around over me, so did the Jarl, until the fire passed and the dragon flew somewhere else to wreak havoc. The Jarl and Ralof slowly lifted off of me, and when I looked up the tower, the Stormcloak soldiers that were there had been burned to a crisp.  
I swallowed hard. _Poor guys_. I thought. "Alright, Lilly, you see that inn right below us?" Ralof was looking out the broken wall and was pointing to an inn with a broken in roof. I nodded. "You need to jump down there and find cover. The Jarl Ulfric and I will join in a moment." He said. I looked behind me.  
The Jarl was pale, but when we caught each other's eye, he nodded in agreement with Ralof. I walked up a little higher than Ralof, looked down, took a deep breath, and jumped. 

I landed on my feet, but my knees buckled and I fell to my face. I picked myself up, and looked around for an escape from the broken inn.  
I saw stairs at the end of the room to the left, walked briskly to them and carefully made my way down them. I went through a couple more archways, and then saw the dragon breathing fire at some red armored soldiers. I felt bad for them. Then I noticed a young boy gawking at the dragon.  
I acted on instinct and bravely ran over to him, threw my bound arms around him mustered up all the strength I had and lifted him behind some broken wreckage that was on fire.  
An old man crouching by the wreckage looked relieved to see him safely away from harm. "Thank you." He said as I put him down by him. I nodded. "Lilly! Are you alright?" I turned.  
I was now facing Hadvar, one of the red armored soldiers. I was relieved to see he was alright. "Yes, thank you." I said. He had a sword drawn. He was sweaty, and had dirt and charcoal all over face and armor.  
"I'm glad to hear that. Are you the only one who made it?" He asked. I shook my head slowly. "A Stormcloak soldier named Ralof and the Jarl Ulfric made it out. I'm not sure about anyone else. But these two," (I gestured with both hands towards the old man and child) "seem to be alright. But they can't stay here for long." I said.  
Hadvar nodded in agreement. "Hadvar, I can get the boy and myself out of here safely." The old man said. Hadvar frowned. Then his face changed like he remembered something. "Yes! That's right! The underground tunnel! Alright, here's the plan," Said Hadvar. "Lilly, you and I will go through the underground tunnel that's under this city. We'll clear it out ahead for these two and anyone else, and then make our way out. Does that sound like a good plan?" He asked.  
I thought it was. So I nodded and smiled slightly. "Okay, good. It looks like the coast is clear for now. Alright, you three stay close behind me while we make our way to the underground." Said Hadvar. The three of us nodded. The old man and the child got up and stood behind me. We followed Hadvar.  
We ran through the deserted streets filled with fire, chunks of stone, and red armored soldiers. We stopped behind a broken down fiery building as the dragon blew fire right as Hadvar was running towards another clearing.

After the dragon flew away again, we ran to the clearing. We had come to a large but small building.  
"That's the underground. We should make get there quick." Said Hadvar, his sword raised.  
"Lilly!" I looked to my left and saw Ralof and the Jarl Ulfric standing in the clearing near the underground. They had gotten weapons.  
"Ralof you traitor! I should have known!" Hadvar yelled.  
I was surprised. Did they know each other? Well, obviously they did; or else Hadvar wouldn't have yelled at him. Or maybe it was because they just tried to behead us all… Yeah, that must've been it.

"Hadvar; Still alive are you? And Lilly? You're alright I hope." Ralof said. I nodded. We all walked a little closer to each other.  
"We're going into the underground. Are you coming with us?" Ralof asked; looking at me. I looked at Hadvar. He was staring angrily at Ralof and the Jarl. But when Ralof asked me if I was going with them, he looked at me. "Um, why can't we all just go together? I mean, we'll be better protected with all of us in a group. Plus; I think we can set aside our differences just until we reach safety." I said. Ralof seemed to consider. So did Hadvar. They looked at each other. "She's right. We can set aside our… Situation; until we all reach Riverwood." Said Hadvar. "Yes, and work as a team. But as soon as we reach Riverwood, and I speak with my sister, the Jarl Ulfric and I are going to Windhelm." Said Ralof. "Fine." Hadvar replied. "Let's just get to safety."

When we entered the underground, Hadvar unbound my hands and told me to go find some armor, a weapon, and some potions. I did as I was told; even though I already knew what to do.

We made our way through the place. We came across a few more Stormcloak and Imperial survivors. And then more. But most of them died when we reached the stream. There was a rock slide caused by the Dragon.

They continued on. I was given a bow and some arrows because at some point we ran into a sleeping mama bear. I didn't have the heart to kill her; so we snuck around her.  
After a while of jogging through the place, we finally made it out of the underground.

"Hold on, look! There's that Dragon! Hide!" Hadvar whispered.  
What was left of us scattered to a hiding place. The dragon roared and flew away, leaving a burning village behind.


End file.
